Oxbow Farm

Hey, everybody! I haven’t posted in a few months and I’m a terrible person…. School, theatre, and dance have taken up all of my time for blogging. Now that it’s summer, I’m going to try and post every Sunday!

Last Wednesday, my Girl Scout Troop took a tour of Oxbow Farm in Carnation in order to complete our “Sow What?” journey (a pre-requisite for the Girl Scout Gold Award). Oxbow Farm is a CSA farm that sells organic produce. In addition to being a CSA, they also provide produce to local restaurants, such as Zaw Pizza and Café Flora. We learned a lot about how a small farm is run on our tour. After our visit, our leaders asked us some questions about our visit. Below are our answers.

What was your favorite vegetable to try at the farm? Do you think it tasted better than its store-bought version? Why or why not?

Our favorite vegetables at the farm were peas and carrots. We thought that they tasted fresher and crisper than the peas and carrots that you find at the store.

 

Carrots

 

Do you wish that your family would join a CSA or start shopping at farmers’ markets? Why or why not?

We would be more likely to go to a farmers’ market than join a CSA. By going to the farmers’ market, you can buy local, organic produce and support farmers. However, a CSA is a bit of a hassle when you have a busy schedule, because it’s hard to find time to pick up the boxes of produce from the drop-off locations. Also, there are some weeks when you don’t have very much time to cook, so some of your produce from the box would go to waste.

What was your favorite thing that you learned about how a small, organic farm like Oxbow is run?

We enjoyed learning about Oxbow’s methods of organic pest control, such as the bug vacuum and decoy plants. The bug vacuum is used at night when the bugs come out, and it sucks up all the bugs to keep them off of the plant. Also, decoy plants were planted at the ends of the rows. The decoy plants were more desirable to the bugs than the actual vegetables (like lettuce and radishes), so the bugs would stay away from the vegetables that Oxbow wanted to sell.

A chart with information about harvests and deliveries

Name one thing that the farmers do to the plants or soil in order to improve growing conditions. Did you know this before? Why was this interesting to you?

At Oxbow, they use a cover crop in order to improve conditions. Cover crops are crops that are easy to grow, don’t require much water, and are very low maintenance. When the cover crop is done growing, they till the plant into the soil, which puts lots of nutrients into the soil during the winter when the plant decays. We didn’t know about this particular method until we went to Oxbow, and we found it interesting because it’s one of many ways that you can improve crops without using chemical fertilizers.

What did you learn about the farmers that work at Oxbow?
We thought it was really interesting that most of the farmers at Oxbow were women. 70% of Oxbow employees are women. It proves that as long as you have the determination to work hard and improve the food system, you can run a farm no matter who you are! 

Arwin, the amazing female farmer who led our tour

Would you want to work on a farm like Oxbow? Why or why not?

Some of us would be interested in summer internships, but most of the troop members think that they would get bored when working on a farm. Being a farmer is a lifestyle, and a lot of our girls don’t necessarily have the passion for farming. That’s totally fine. However, we all enjoyed visiting the farm.

Why do you think buying local, organic produce is important?
Buying local, organic produce is important because it supports local farmers and the local economy. The produce is fresher, and it’s healthier because it’s free of chemicals. Also, local and organic produce is better for the environment. This is because it doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles to get to your plate, and no harmful chemicals are used.

Did visiting Oxbow inspire you to change the way you shop for produce? Why or why not?

Some of our girls would like to buy more local food in order to help the environment. Plus, we’d like to eat fresher food, like the produce at Oxbow.

Did your visit to Oxbow Farm inspire you to tell your friends about CSAs, local produce, and organic farming? Why or why not?

Not really. I personally try to inspire my friends to eat local and organic produce, but that’s because I have a passion for healthy food and improving the food system. The other girls in our troop don’t have that passion, which is fine. However, they are willing to make changes for themselves and become aware about food, which is a great step to take.

Overall, we really enjoyed our trip to Oxbow and all took something away from the visit. My family joined Full Circle Farm (a farm that delivers organic produce to your door – however, it is not a CSA) because Oxbow inspired us to join a CSA/something like a CSA. If you’re interested in visiting Oxbow Farm, go to www.oxbow.org for more information.

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